Movies, awards and sunny holidays!

So, I'm back in gloriously sunny Norfolk and have two whole weeks off work to look forward to! I've been living here for over two years, but haven't really taken the time to explore the area, which is absolutely stunning. So I'm really looking forward to having a frolic in the countryside and catching up on my reading as I am woefully behind on my challenges!

In the meantime, I saw Wanted a few days ago and was very pleasantly surprised. Very very gripping, with some fantastic action sequences, and the ever delicious James McAvoy! Tonight, we're heading to see the Dark Knight tonight...very exciting! We bought 13 tickets this morning, and good job too, because over half the tickets had already been sold. Verdict tomorrow!

On the blog front...Eva at A Striped Armchair has given me a Blog Award of Excellence for my blog's physical appearance. Thank you very much! So I'm supposed to nominate other bloggers... I nominate Nymeth at Things Mean a Lot for her fantastic reviews and diversity of reading, Rhinoa of Rhinoa's Ramblings for her great reviews and for introducing me to so many good books, Carl of Stainless Steel Droppings for his wonderful posts on unusual and intriguing art, Valentina of Valentina's Room for her great children's book reviews, Dewey of The Hidden Side of a Leaf for her excellent Weekly Geeks and Andi of Tripping Towards Lucidity for her excellent reviews, doggy photos and fabulous blog layout! Thanks for all your great blogs guys!

Away again!

Well I'm off again tomorrow, this time for only two or three weeks, but I doubt very much there will be good internet on the ship, so I may be hard for me to update my blog or read all of yours until I get back. I'll definitely be reading as much as I can, and I'm taking both of my favourite magazines with me (see weekly geeks!). Fingers crossed we have lots of whales on this job!

Weekly Geeks #10

I've been a bit slack recently with my Weekly Geeks, but as I'm heading back on another ship tomorrow and won't be posting much, if at all, for 2-3 weeks, I thought I would try to participate! Plus, this is a chance for me to gush about something else that I love, other than books!

The theme for Weekly Geeks #10 is to talk about the magazines we read. You are free to discuss as much as you like about your favourite magazines, and include some images of their covers. Dewey has given us this helpful meme to use as a template.

1. Name of magazine.
BBC Wildlife Magazine

2. Do you subscribe or just buy it now and then?
I try to buy it every month, but do not subscribe as I am so rarely at home for long!

3. What’s your favorite regular feature in the magazine?
The final page is a regular one-page feature, Tales from the bush, which is usually a different researcher or scientist each month, in their particular field. Often funny or slightly scary, this feature usually describes some kind of wild encounter! Each year has a series of features around a different subject. This year it is wild walks and the best places to see wildlife, with a different animal or plant featured every month.

4. What do you think your interest in this magazine says about you?
I have had a life long passion for wildlife and travel, which is no doubt reflected in my reading of this magazine. Although I am most drawn to articles or issues concerning marine mammals and African wildlife, I also have a deep interest in British wildlife, so it really is the best magazine I could read!

5. How long have you been reading this magazine?
I couldn't say for certain, but at least 12 years, as I first started reading it in high school. I stopped during my studies at university for a while, as the last thing I wanted to do was read something else about science! But I am back with a vegeance now, and loving it more than ever!

6. Is there any unique or quirky aspect to the magazine that keeps you reading?
I love how friendly this maazine is, with its gentle humour and passion for everything about the natural world, from the cuddliest panda to the slimiest bug. I learn something fascinating in every issue, and get very excited when my favourite animals or parts of the world are featured!

1. Name of magazine.
Empire Magazine

2. Do you subscribe or just buy it now and then?
I try to buy it every month, but do not subscribe as I am so rarely at home for long!

3. What’s your favorite regular feature in the magazine?
Probably the reviews, as they are the most useful thing about the magazine for me. The Empire reviewers have pretty similar taste to me (though not always!) so I generally trust their opinions. They also have great interviews with actors, directors and writers every month, and each season they have a great Movie Preview for all the upcoming films. My favourite regular features though have to be the memorable scene from a film on the back page and the top ten which varies each month..e.g top ten car chases.

4. What do you think your interest in this magazine says about you?
I don't remember when I started to really love films, although one of my strongest memories of being a child was sitting in front of the tv watching Star Wars: A New Hope every day for a week while my mum helped her best friend move house. Obviously I can now quote the entire film, and since then have developed the ability to remember the most useless movie trivia and quotes! Empire probably says a lot about my sense of humour too...you'd have to read it to understand!

5. How long have you been reading this magazine?
Strangely, I really am not sure when I first bought a copy of Empire. I'm pretty sure it was when I was at high school, though I didn't start buying it regularly until university.

6. Is there any unique or quirky aspect to the magazine that keeps you reading?
First and foremost, I love the humour of Empire. The staff really love their films, and their passion is very evident in this magazine, whether they love or hate something. One of the more quirky aspects is of course, the film quote on the spine of each issue that you have to figure out! The editor always picks some very amusing letters each month, and its always comforting seeing how many people have the same humour, pet hates and foibles as me. Another reason I love Empire is their devotion and love for Star Wars. Even though the newer three films were a little disappointing, issue after issue of Empire have been printed as an ode to the great Star Wars and their flawed but masterful creator, George Lucas. Another reason for me to keep reading!

Win John Lawson's Witch Ember and The Raven

Another exciting little raffle is up on J.Kaye's Book Blog. To enter, visit the blog and post comments on her reviews of Witch Ember and The Raven. A comment on one enters you once; comment on both and be entered twice! If you blog about this raffle, include a link to your blog in your comments, and your chances to win are doubled! Hurry though, the raffle ends today.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safran Foer

Rating: 5
Read for: TBR Challenge 2008 & tl;dr Challenge

"What about a teakettle? What if the spout opened and closed when the steam came out, so it would become a mouth, and it could whistle pretty melodies, or do Shakespeare, or just crack up with me? I could invent a teakettle that reads in Dad’s voice, so I could fall asleep, or maybe a set of kettles that sings the chorus of “Yellow Submarine,” which is a song by the Beatles, who I love, because entomology is one of my raisons d’être, which is a French expression that I know."

So begins Jonathan Safran Foer's masterpiece. Yes, I know that's a strong word, but I feel it's appropriate. I borrowed Extremely Loud off a friend months, if not a year, ago, but didn't pick it up to read until recently. Boy, did I kick myself! If I had only known how good this was I would have read it ages ago!

Oskar Schell is an inventor, amateur entomologist, Francophile, letter writer, pacifist, natural historian, percussionist, romantic, Great Explorer, jeweller, detective, vegan, and collector of butterflies...he is also only nine years old. Still coming to terms with the death of his father in the World Trade Centre on September 11th, Oscar finds a key inside a vase in his father closet. In an attempt to get closer to his late father, Oscar embarks on a mission to find the lock this key was made for, on a journey that allows him to meet dozens of strangers, changing many of their lives forever. Through the story we learn more about Oskar's father and grandparents, and experience the bombings of Dresden and Hiroshima.

Extemely Loud is beautiful and heartfelt. Oskar's sadness and loss is very real, and Foer's writing allows the reader to become very involved in the journey. The relationship between Oskar's grandparents is intriguing and heartbreaking. The ending is so much more powerful than I imagined, leaving this reader for one, in tears. I cannot recommend this book enough.

Other blog reviews:
Nymeth @ Things Mean A Lot
Jessica @ Wanderings

Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer

Rating: 4

The third book in the Twilight saga, Eclipse is the exciting return to Forks, Washington, where we rejoin Bella, now in her final year of high school.

Eclipse finds Bella making a deal with Edward. He grants her immortality by his side, but only after graduation. Their relationship is more passionate than ever, but Bella begins to have some doubts about becoming a vampire. On top of this, a rash of brutal killings is occurring in Seattle, and it soon becomes apparent that uncontrollable newborn vampires are responsible, that it may be part of a bigger plan and their ultimate target may indeed be Bella herself.

Delving more into the complexities of the werewolves' origins, and into the relationships between the werewolves and vampire, Eclipse finds an uneasy alliance forming. Their mutual affection for Bella forces Edward and Jacob to work together, completely against their natural instincts, with predictable but no less readable and gripping consequences. Bella soon finds that she has to choose between them. Jacob is a very likeable character. His fights with Bella are passionate and meaningful, far more than Edwards brooding demeanour.

My favourite part of this book however, was learning more about Jasper, how he came to be a vampire, and the reason he finds it harder than the others to be around humans. I had been hoping to learn more about him during the last two books and was not disappointed, his story being very different to those of the other Cullens, and it explains a lot about him.

Eclipse was not as gripping as the previous books in this series, building up quite slowly, but the end was very enjoyable and sets up the next (last?) installment nicely. Even though Bella is not the easiest heroine to like, and I'm not entirely sure what Edward and Jacob see in her (!), her plight is an interesting one, and I will certainly be following this tale to its conclusion.

An enjoyable read for fans of the series.

Other blog reviews:
Rhinoa's Ramblings
Naida @ the Bookworm
Becky's Book Reviews
Marg @ Reading Adventures
Melody's Reading Corner
In Spring it is the Dawn

The Host - Stephenie Meyer

Rating: 4

Stephenie Meyer's first novel for adults and highly enjoyable it is! I bought this after I had enjoyed Twilight and New Moon so much and can say that I certainly wasn't disappointed.

The Host takes us to an Earth whose population has been taken over by alien parasites who like to refer to themselves as "souls". We humans lost the battle and our bodies have been taken over by these souls, who are going about our usual lives, only with their enhanced technology and medicine. The story focuses on one such soul, known as Wanderer, and the host body that she has inhabited. Wanderer is exactly that, having travelled to most of the souls' inhabited worlds and who does not feel at home anywhere. She is chosen to take over this particular adult host, Melanie, a free human who had only just be captured by the souls. But it is difficult for her. Melanie's memories are so strong that Wanderer finds it hard to control her emotions, especially her passionate feelings towards her lover, Jared. Wanderer finds both herself and her host drawn to find this man, but ends up finding so much more.

The Host is not just a story about mankind's struggle for survival. It is also about a small community trying to accept someone very different, someone that represents all the hate and loss they have suffered. But at its heart, The Host is a love story...love that is lost, love that is found, and love that can never be. To say much more would spoil the story, so I'll leave it at that. But The Host is a suprisingly enjoyable read, and although the book is quite long, I still wasn't ready for it to end. As for the ending, I wasn't entirely satisfied, but its hard to see how there could have been a perfect ending. The idea of aliens coming to our world and making it a far better place, but the price being to lose control of our own bodies, to be effectively wiped out, is an interesting one. Very "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"... And the story becomes more intricate, as we become involved in both Wanderer and Melanie's lives, we get to know and care about both of them individually, and understand that they can't both truly exist in the same body..there can be only one.

Highly recommended, even if you haven't read Stephenie Meyer before.

Other blog reviews:
Naida @ The Bookworm